Rail anchor



Dec. 3, 1929. A. F. FIFIELD 38,237

RAIL ANCHOR Filed Jan. 28, 1929 Patented Dec. 3, 1929 ALBERT F. FIFIELID, OLE ST. GATHARINES, ONTARIO, CANADA,

AMERICAN F633: 85

OHIO

it COMPANY, 01 CLEVELAND, UHIO, A CQEEUlEt-ATION 0F RAIL ANCHOR Application filed January 28, 1929. Serial N0. 335,451.

My invention relates to rail anchors and relates particularly to the type of rail anchors attachable to railroad rails to prevent longitudinal movement thereof, and which are made in only one piece.

@ne-piece rail anchors, so-called, are well known, but so far I am aware, they are generally subject to certain disadvantages, some of w iich are possessed. also by rail anchors involving more than one part.

Among these a principal disadvantage is that a rail anchor must be made particularly for rails of a certain size and when, for instance, it is desired to use them on rails or a ditlerent size this may not be done without reforming of the rail anchor, the reforming being generally more expensive tnan the cost of new anchors.

Many of the prior one-piece rail anchors do not engage, by a suiticient surface thereof, with the fixed part of the railway road bed, such as a railway tie, to prevent movement of the anchor with the rail, or to prevent such undue pressures being exerted against the tie as to wear it away in the portions contacting.

Among other disadvantages of prior rall anchors, are the ditliculties 0t attaching and detaching from the rails.

An object of my present invention, thereiiore, is to provide an improved rail anchor of the one-piece type, adapted for use upon rails of diili'erent sizes.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide an improved rail anchor of the one-piece type, adapted to present a very broad surface for engagement with the lateral surface of a rail supportin tie, which prevents movement of the anchor with the rail transversely of the tie, also to etl'ect such engage ment as will be most efiicacious.

Another object of my invention is to provide a one-piece rail anchor invertible to adapt it to diiierent sized rails, providing in either position, a large tie engagi g surface and. adapted to adhere to the rail base by CLOPGlttllillQ jaws engaging the fillet between the rail web, rail base and rail flange edge, re pectively.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved rail anchor which is readily and rigidly secured to a rail adjacentto a tie and readily removable thereil-rom.

Another object oi? my invention is to secure a plurality of the aforesaid objects in a single anchor construction.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a rail anchor adaptable for attachment to rails of a plurality of sizes, and which will be rigidly held thereon alter .attacl'unen even though the rails oi a given size may vary slightly in width of the rail bases, due to manufacturing tolerances.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itsell will become apparent by reference to the following description of an embodiment of my inventiomand in which de scription reference will be hadtothe acco1npanying drawings illustrating the said embodiment.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an anchor embodying my invention attached to a rail of a given size illustrated in transverse section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the anchor of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the different figures of the drawing, in all of which like parts are designated by like reference characters, at 1 I show a rail having opposite lateral flanges 2 and 3, and a web 4; and fillets 5 intermediate the lateral surfaces of the web and the upper surfaces of the flanges. A rail tie is shown ate, the rail being supported on the tie entending transversely of a plninlity of such ties, in the usual manner, spilies holding the rails to the tie by their heads superposed over the border portions of the rail flanges 2 and 3, in arrangement with the flanges.

The rail anchor of my invention is of the type adapted to be resiliently clamped to the rail base and abuttingly engage by a late 'al surface the rail tie 6. The anchor, so, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and comprises an integral forging of steel or like resilient material, and is generally of E-torni with an elongated intermediate tongue shown at 7 with flanged end 8.

From the head 9 of the anchor,the divergant arms 10 and 11 extend toward the flanged end 8 of the tongue 7, each being curved inwardly toward its end portion toward the tongue to form with the tongue a pair of similar hooks.

The enlarged flanged head 8 is provided at each sidewith a pair of shoulders 12 and 13 and 12 and 13, arranged in stepped relation, a pair of the shoulders, such as 13 and 13, being-disposed more remote from the head of the anchor than are the shoulders 12 and 12', so that a wider rail base corresponding in form to the rail base 1 may be receivable successively between the shoulders 1312' and the rail fillet engaging surface '14 of the arm 11, than the rail base 1, which is resiliently held between the fillet engaging surface 14 of the anchor arm 10 and the shoulders 12-213.

In the anchor of my invention, whichever one of the arms 10 or 11 engages by its fillet engaging surface 14 or 14' with the fillet inter-connecting the web and rail base, the other arm, such as the arm 11, Fig. 1, is disposed lowermost for engaging by its lateral surface with the abutting lateral surface of the tie 6.

I prefer to employ a pair of shoulders such as 121-3 and 1213 for'each of the duplex retaining flanges 15 respectively, of the flanged end 8 of the anchor tongue 7, for convenience in applying the anchor to the rail base, although one of the shoulders, such as tlllle shoulder 13 or 13, could be dispensed wit 7 With the two shoulders provided, however, a workman applying the anchor to the rail, will hook the arm 10 over the rail base flange 2, and preliminarily will drive the anchor by its head 9 to project the flanged end 8 laterally of the rail so that the'first shoulder 13 or 13 will snapover the bottom edge17 of the rail base.

ciently beyond the adjacent lateral surface of the rail flange as to eflect a'snapping of the shoulder 12 over the rail base lower edge 17 The operation is the same when the anchor is reversed to apply it to a larger size rail base.

In applying the anchor to the rail, the fillet engaging surface 14 or 14, as the case maybe, of the arms 10 or 11, respectively, will ride upwardly on the fillet as driving of the anchor on the rail base progresses.

A wedging effect is had as well as a final slight flexure of the arm 10 in the more vertically extending portion thereof, the combined flexing effects being eflicacious in securing a very tight grip upon the rail base by the anchor.

The idle pendant arm 10 or 11, as the case may he, presents a very broad tie engaging lateral surface so that gouging of the ties is reduced to a negligible amount and the ties are, therefore, enabled to more unyieldingly resist movement of the anchors laterally by longitudinally directed eliorts of the rail.

The arms 10 and 11 are preferably widened at 15 in order to effect a broad surface engagement at 14, and also to effect engagement by one of the lateral surfaces 16 of the flattened arm, with the rail tie 6, so as to tend to elfect a sluing and canting action on the anchor on transverse and vertical axes, comprising respectively the longitudinal axis of the tongue 7 and an axis extending vertically within the rail engaging surface 12 of the shoulder end of the anchor.

Having thus described my invention in a particular embodiment I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom but without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A one-piece rail anchor of generally E-form, comprising an elongated intermediate tongue terminating in a pair of oppositely extending retaining flanges, a pair of outer tongues disposed in spaced relation to the first tongue, and forming in connection therewith, a pair of rail flange embracing hooks, said hooks terminating at their ends in contacting portions engageable with a rail fillet uniting a side of the rail web with the rail base, said anchor adapted to be driven on to a rail flange by its hooked end and to be retained thereon by engagement of one of said flanges with the opposite lateral edge of the rail over which it is adapted to be snapped when the anchor is driven to resiliently deflect said hooked end portion.

2. A one-piece rail anchor of generally E-form comprising an elongated intermediate tongue adapted to underlie a rail base, said tongue having a pair of oppositely dir posed terminal flanges, and a pair of outer tongues disposed on either side of the intermediate tongue and in spaced parallel relation thereto, said anchor engageable with the-rail by an end portion of one of said other tongues and with the fillet interconnecting the rail web and rail base, one of said terminal flanges engaging an opposite lateral edge portion of the rail base, said tongue end and flange being so spaced relative to the size of the rail as to resiliently be spread apart upon placement of the anchor on the rail as aforesaid.

3. A one-piece rail anchor of generally E-form comprising an elongated intermediate tongue adapted to underlie a rail base, said tongue having a pair of oppositely disposed terminal flanges, and a pair of outer tongues disposed on either side of the inter mediate tongue and in spaced parallel relation thereto, said anchor engageable with the rail by an end portion of one of said other tongues and with the fillet interconnecting the rail web and rail base, one of said terminal flanges engaging an opposite latei et fe portion of the rail base, said e to the size of the rail as to resiliently be spread apart upon placement of the an chor on the rail as aforesaid, said anchor invertible to secure it to a rail oil a different size, one of said other tongues having its end spaced ditlerently from its associated said flange than the other tongue and flange cooperating therewith.

4:. A rail anchor of generally T-form having a stem tongue terminating in a pair of oppositely extending flanges and its arms bent inwardly on opposite sides ot the tongue each alternatively engageable with the fillet connecting a rail web and base of rails of different sizes, each of said flanges adapted to cooperate with a corresponding one ot said arms to retain theanchor on a rail base by ene'agement with a lateral. surface portion or the opposite rail base flange.

5. A rail anchor generally of T-itorin with the arms inturned toward. the end of the stem, said stem end being enlarged to provide t anges, said arms being engageable by their inturned top portions with the fillet of a rail, and to resiliently clamp the anchor on the rail, said stem port-ion underlying the rail base and terminal flange for the stem engageable with the lateral surface of the rail base to resiliently retain the anchor thereon.

6. A rail anchor generally of T-torm with the arms inturned toward the end of the stem, said stem end being enlarged to proride flanges, said arms being engageable by their inturned top portions with the fillet ot a rail, and to resiliently clamp the anchor on the rail, said stem portion underlying the rail base and the terminal flange ot the stem engageable with the lateral surface of the rail base to resiliently retain the anchor thereon, said other arm pendant from the anchor below the rail and engageable by its lateral surface with. a rail supporting tie to prevent creepage of the anchor.

7. A rail anchor of generally T-torm hav-- ing a stem tongue terminating in a pair of oppositely extending flanges and its arms bent inwardly on opposite sides of the tongue each alternatively engageable with the fillet connecting a rail web and bases of rails of ditl'enent sizes, each of said flanges adapted to cooperate with a corresponding one of said arms to retain the anchor on a rail base by engagement with a lateral surface portion oi the opposite rail base flange, the fillet engaging ends of the arms being widened to 

